In the “exclusively industrial” city of Vernon, you’ll find a very distinctive landmark–a 30,000 square foot mural of frolicking pigs adorning the Farmer John plant. A very sharp contrast to what awaited the pigs inside. But who painted this mural and why?
In 1931 Irish-American brothers Francis and Bernard Clougherty began curing and selling pork bellies and hams to local grocery stores. The brothers operated their business under the name “Clougherty Packing Company” in the city of Norwalk. The business was so successful that In 1941 the brothers acquired meat packer Woodward-Bennett and took over their facility in Vernon, which is the current site of the Farmer John Plant.
The US’s entry into WWII was a boon for the company, as they began supplying meat to local military bases, including Camp Pendleton and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The end of the war brought more demand from the booming population and a greater interest in brandname, packaged meats.
The following decade was a very important one in the history of the company. Given their rising popularity, in 1953 the brothers decided to rename their company Farmer John, as they thought it was easier to pronounce that Clougherty Soon after, the company sponsored popular Southern California TV Show “The Polka Parade” which made Farmer John a household name. In 1958 the Dodgers made the move from Brooklyn to L.A. and Farmer John soon became an official sponsor of the team and a few years later became the sole supplier of the Famous Dodger Dogs, which it continued to do until 2021 when their relationship unfortunately ended.
It was also in the 50s that the famous mural was started. In 1957 an unemployed set painter named Leslie Grimes approached the Cloughertys to ask if there might be some work for him. They asked him to paint the exterior wall of the Plant. But instead of painting it a simple shade of blue, he began painting a mural of frolicking pigs. The Cloughertys were a bit unsure about the mural, but the public’s opinion eventually convinced them to embrace it.
Now, if Leslie Grimes sounds like an interesting dude, you don’t know the half of it. Born in 1905 Grimes was an Australian professional wrestler who arrived in California in 1928. He toured the wrestling circuit, billed as the “Mat King from Down Under” and “The Australian Kangaroo Champion.” His most famous match was against Frank Schroll, the “Kansas Adonis” who in addition to being a wrestler, was also an accomplished violinist. The match was refereed by none other than Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight champion of the world. I love that these type of gimmick guest referee things have always been a part of pro wrestling. In that bout, Grimes and Schroll took to slugging it out instead of wrestling, Grimes took offense to Dempsey shoving him to one side to separate them. Grimes took a swing at Dempsey, who blocked with his left and laid Grimes out cold with a deadly right cross. Dempsey called the match a draw, but someone in the crowd yelled “Dempsey wins by knockout!”
After retiring from wrestling, Grimes found work as a set painter in Hollywood, which he did for several years and that brings us back to 1957, when he began painting what would be his masterpiece. He spent the next eleven years painting farm landscapes with carefree pigs playing in the mud, laying in the grass, and chasing other animals. Although there are a few scenes depicting the fate that awaited the pigs inside the walls of the mural. One day in 1968 while painting the sky on the Southside of the plant, Grimes fell from a 50ft scaffolding and died from his injuries at the age 63, leaving his magnum opus half finished.
2 years later, the Cloughertys hired Austrian immigrant Arno Jordan to finish the mural. Jordan had been living in San Bernardino and worked painting murals for nightclubs and restaurants. One of his friends sold industrial flooring to the Clougherty’s and recommended him for the job. That job would span decades as Jordan continued adding to the half-finished mural as well as touching up Grimes’ work. Jordan worked for decades maintaining and upgrading the mural, a never-ending task since the industrial pollutants and smog took their toll on the paint. Jordan worked until poor health forced him to stop in the late 90s.
In the year 2000, the mural underwent a much-needed makeover; a team of 5 painters led by Artist Philip Slagter began a yearlong project of repainting the mural, using more vibrant and durable paint to replace scenes that were peeling and retouching those that could salvaged. You see, Grimes and Jordan used common house paint for their work, which isn’t meant for painting murals.
Slagter and his team did a fantastic job retaining that same whimsical spirit and humor of Grimes’ and Jordan’s work, while basically painting a brand new mural—one that should last for a very long time, although the future of the Farmer John plant and the mural are uncertain.
In 2017 Farmer John was purchased by Smithfield Foods and soon after that decades-long relationship with the Dodgers ended. In 2022 Smithfield announced they were closing the plant in the early part of 2023 year due to what they said was “the escalating cost of doing business in California.” The plant closed in February of this year, 2,000 people lost their jobs, and the 29 acre property was purchased in July for 209 million dollars by the Goodman Group, an Australian based developer. The property will most likely be redeveloped into a large industrial park, but whether the mural is part of that redevelopment remains to be seen.
I find it kinda funny how much Australia has played in the history of the mural, originally painted by an Australian immigrant and now its fate rests in the hands of an Australian corporation. The mural doesn’t have any sort of official landmark status or historic preservation protection, so if you haven’t seen it in person and would like to, I recommend taking the drive down to Vernon sooner than later to admire “Hog Heaven” in person as they have already started demolishing the plant.
References:
“Wall to Wall Pigs” by Chris McGowan, L.A. Weekly. July 24-30, 1981.
“Pig Star: A Porky Story: When Brand-Name Meats Came of Age, No One was Bigger in Southern California than Farmer John” by Daniel P. Puzo, The L.A. Times. Feb. 6, 1996.
“Q&A Arno Jordan” by Mary Melton, The L.A. Times. Aug. 17, 1997.
“Sharpening Vision of Pig Paradise” by Hugo Martin, the L.A. Times. July 5, 2000.
“Farmer John’s Hog Wild Mural ~ Vernon” by pleasurepalate, L.A. Taco. Dec. 31, 2008.
“Dodgers Trade Farmer John, but Keep the Dogs” by Bill Shaikin, The L.A. Times. April 26, 2021.
“End of the Line for Farmer John, a Smelly L.A. Landmark of Dodger Dogs, Tourists, Protest” by Thomas Curwen and Andrew J. Campa, The L.A. Times. June 11, 2022.
“Goodman Group Snaps Up Farmer John Plant in Vernon for $209M” bye TRD Staff, The Real Deal. July 12, 2023.